Adventure Time Reviews: Season 2 Overview

I have a feeling Season 2 will be my least favorite season of Adventure Time. It’s not that it’s bad, I gave most episodes decent scores and I stand by those, but I definitely wasn’t as into this season as I was into the first, and it will probably be forgotten easily once I watch the next seasons.

By now, the eccentric novelty of this show has worn off. The first season was great because of how downright strange it was, but now I need something of more substance to keep me interested in the show, especially if I’m going to be writing about it. Season 2 had a few episodes that (somewhat) broke away from its usual insanity to have a more interesting story, like Susan Strong, Return to the Nightosphere and of course Mortal Folly and Mortal Recoil, and those are the ones I remember most. Everything else is just a blur.

At least we got to learn a bit more about Finn’s past in this season. We now know that Finn is the last human, at least as far as he and everyone else knows. I can’t help relating this to Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender, who was… well, the last Airbender. Except that Aang left the Airbenders when he was twelve, whereas Finn was raised by dogs since he was a baby and we don’t know if he ever came into contact with humans in that time, nor if he has any memory of his human parents. Aside from learning more about Finn’s past, certain aspects of his personality are coming to prominence more too. I’m starting to see just how black and white his view of the world is, there don’t seem to be many grey areas for Finn. This is a really interesting flaw for a hero to have.

And then there’s Jake. Yeah, Jake is sort of the Patrick of Adventure Time for me. I don’t dislike him, but there’s no doubt that he’s my least favorite main character, and even if I included side characters he’d probably still rank low. But Jake is likable enough and I enjoy his relationship with Finn. Jake’s relaxed personality and realism are a good balance for Finn’s energy and idealism, and it’s even more interesting to think that Jake probably wouldn’t be a hero if not for Finn’s influence. Not that I think he’d be a bad guy, but he’s a lot lazier and more selfish than Finn, so I can’t imagine him going out of his way to help anyone without Finn (unless peer pressure was involved).

As for Princess Bubblegum, Ice King, and Marceline, I don’t have anything to say about them that I haven’t said thousands of times already. I’m still very intrigued by all of them, they have a lot of potential, I just want to see more of them. The same goes for Lumpy Space Princess, Lady Rainicorn, Tree Trunks and Peppermint Butler (one of the good things about Season 2 is the introduction of this little weirdo). I like them, but I want to see more.

That brings me to the main complaint I have about Adventure Time (so far): we don’t see enough of anyone who isn’t named Finn or Jake. I get that Finn and Jake are the main characters, but I’m tired of every episode being about one or both of them. I wish they’d mix it up more. Other characters on the show are really intriguing, but they get the spotlight so rarely and when they do they’re always sharing it with Finn and/or Jake. I wish this show would have a few episodes without either of those two, or where those two play a smaller role. SpongeBob has some episodes that weren’t about SpongeBob. Futurama has plenty of episodes that aren’t about Fry. Even Avatar has a few episodes that aren’t about Aang.

There’s also the fact that I’ve pretty much said everything I have to say about Finn and Jake already and I’m dying for some new material or these reviews will get more repetitive than I’m afraid they already are.

Nothing against Finn and Jake, I’ve made it pretty clear that I love Finn, but this show could stand to mix things up with their characters once in a while.

So, what I want to see in Season 3: episodes where Finn and Jake aren’t the focus, more development and active roles for other characters (particularly the female ones), more drama-driven episodes (with some of the usual silliness mixed in) because this show seems to excel at that. Apparently Season 3 is where this show really takes off, so I’m looking forward to reviewing it.

As for Season 2, it was an enjoyable but forgettable ride, and I’m definitely ready to leave it behind.

Bring it on, Season 3.

Best Episode: Mortal Folly

Worst Episode: Slow Love

Season Rating: 7.5